Do You Recognize How Destructive Your Words Can Be?

Three Cautions from the Book of James James chapter 3 is very like the book of Proverbs, because James loves graphic illustrations about our mouths, our words, and, in particular, our tongues. So, here we will see three things James is saying about the tongue: it is small; it is a fire; it is a fountain. The Tongue Is Small—It Has Power out of All Proportion to Its Size “For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well” (James 3:2–3). The tongue is tiny, but it’s as if James is saying that it’s the control room for the whole person, and yet it’s the hardest part to control. Being self-controlled in what we say is one of the most difficult of disciplines, but if we can get that right, well, it will lead to a kind of integration and wholeness in the rest of life. James says tongue control makes “a perfect man” (James 3:2). If you can keep control of your tongue, then you can take control of the whole body. You think you’ve got wandering eyes or violent hands? Remarkably, James is actually encouragin...